Cllr Keith Martin has warmly welcomed the publishing of an advertisement seeking land for the provision of allotments by Westport Town Council.
According to Cllr Martin this "is the first step towards realising the aim of a Municipal Allotments scheme here in Westport and there is sure to be great interest in the scheme.
"This scheme, when established, will allow Westport's citizens to develop sustainable and local foods for their own consumption and allow for food security and the combating of climate change through greater self-sufficiency. Allotments are also a logical response to recent food price inflation."
"Allotments will be ideal in Westport because of the large number of flats and apartments without any gardens and the number of houses with tiny gardens will mean that there are a large number of people who will welcome the opportunity to grow their own vegetables.
"But allotments are about so much more than growing your own food or flowers, allotments are also about exercise, teaching children about growth and nature, social interaction with neighbours and getting out of the apartment and having your own small bit of outdoor space on the ground.
"I called for an Municipal Allotments Scheme in my first submission on the Westport Town Development Plan back in May 2008 and have worked with the other councilors to ensure that it was adopted as council policy in the current 5-year Development Plan which is now in effect. This is another step forward in making Westport a greener and more sustainable town and it is to be warmly welcomed and a fine example of councillors responding to the needs of their constituents."
The Office International du Coin de Terre et des Jardins Familiaux (OICTJF), a Luxembourg-based organization representing three million European allotment gardeners since 1926, says allotments allow a better quality of urban life through the reduction of noise, the binding of dust, the establishment of open green spaces in densely populated areas and provide meaningful leisure activity and the personal experience of sowing, growing, cultivating and harvesting healthy vegetables amidst high-rise buildings and the urban jungle.
Other benefits according to the OICTJF are
for children and adolescents a place to play, communicate and to discover nature and its wonders;
for working people relaxation from the stress of work;
for the unemployed the feeling of being useful and not excluded as well as a supply of fresh vegetables at minimum cost;
for immigrant families a possibility of communication and better integration in their host country;
for disabled persons a place enabling them to participate in social life, to establish contacts and overcome loneliness;
for senior citizens a place of communication with persons having the same interests as well as an opportunity of self-fulfillment during the period of retirement.
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Faithfully
Cllr Keith Martin
086 0691182
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